President Bush Wednesday makes a statement in the Rose Garden on the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act reform legislation, which passed the Senate 69-28 that afternoon.

WIRETAPPING THEN AND NOW

The Senate on Wednesday passed revisions to the 1978 Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA). Key differences between the old and new legislation include:

Lawsuit immunity:

1978: Telecommunication companies did not receive retroactive immunity from lawsuits by people whose communications the government may have tapped.

2008: Telecoms can receive retroactive immunity if they are able to show that the government assured them the eavesdropping was legal.

Eavesdropping on U.S.citizens overseas:

1978: The U.S. attorney general could approve surveillance.

2008: The FISA court must approve.

Eavesdropping without warrants:

1978: The government had three days to conduct emergency wiretaps without a warrant.

2008: The emergency wiretap period is extended to one week.

Warrants for overseas calls passing through U.S. links:

1978: Warrants were required to eavesdrop on calls between two people in foreign countries if those calls were routed through U.S. computer servers.

2008: A category is created called "program warrants" to cover this activity.

Sources: Congress and the Associated Press

By Peter Eisler, USA TODAY

WASHINGTON  The Senate approved a major revision of the 30-year-old law regulating the government's electronic surveillance program Wednesday, ending a debate that threatened to freeze intelligence operations.

The bill, which President Bush promised to sign, is designed to end at least 40 lawsuits against telecommunication companies that have aided the government.

The Senate passed the bill, 69-28, after rejecting amendments aimed at limiting the companies' ability to gain immunity from the current and future lawsuits. The House of Representatives approved the bipartisan compromise last month by a 293-129 vote.

Bush said the bill will allow the government "to quickly and effectively monitor the plans of terrorists outside the USA, while respecting" civil liberties.

Congress faced pressure to pass the bill because wiretaps granted under interim legislation were to expire in August. If the government had to get new orders, it could have delayed ongoing operations.

The bill would give a secret court the power to supervise the administration's warrantless surveillance program, which was launched after 9/11 to hunt terrorists.

An amendment that would have allowed the lawsuits was killed on a 32-66 vote.

The amendment was supported by Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., who left his presidential campaign to vote. He voted for the overall bill.

Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, was campaigning and did not vote. He said he supported the bill and immunity.

Opponents said the bill codifies an unconstitutional program. The American Civil Liberties Union and the Electronic Frontier Foundation vowed a court challenge.

"This program broke the law, and this president broke the law," said Sen. Russ Feingold, D-Wis., a leading opponent. Senators will regret they passed the law if they learn more about the program, he said.

Bush authorized warrantless intercepts of international calls between suspected terrorists abroad and people in the USA soon after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Warrants for such surveillance typically must be approved by a special court created by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978, which aimed to better regulate surveillance of foreign spies or terrorists operating in the USA.

The 1978 law was passed after revelations of domestic spying by the FBI and CIA.

After The New York Times revealed the warrantless surveillance program in 2005, Bush agreed to place the program under the FISA court's supervision — but only if Congress provided immunity for telecommunication companies being sued for cooperating with the eavesdropping.

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